Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult is a pungent novel that centers around 13-year-old Jenna Metcalf and the relentless search for her missing mother, Dr. Alice Metcalf after a tragedy struck at the Elephant Sanctuary 10 years ago.

Dr. Alice Metcalf is an esteemed scientist who studies the behavior of African elephants. Throughout the story, we learn that she has lived in Africa and that her last known location was an elephant sanctuary where she raised her daughter Jenna and lived with her husband, fellow scientist, and researcher, Dr. Thomas Metcalf. One night, tragedy struck as one of the caretakers in the sanctuary was trampled by an elephant and Alice was taken to the hospital with some serious injuries. She left the hospital in the middle of the night, never to be seen or heard from again. Alice’s husband, Thomas, had a psychotic break, which landed him in a psychiatric hospital.

Jenna Metcalf lives with her maternal grandmother and visits her father regularly. In the first few chapters of the book, we learn that Jenna is saving up enough money to hire a private investigator to investigate the disappearance of Alice Metcalf. A case, which has been cold for 10 years. Jenna decides to find the lead detective – Virgil Stanhope – and ask him some questions, hoping he can shed light on her mother’s disappearance. Jenna finds Virgil but he’s not in great shape as he favors the bottle to help quiet his demons.

Virgil, feeling haunted by Dr. Alice Metcalf’s disappearance, decides to help Jenna. Maybe solving this case once and for all will grant him the redemption he has been desperately seeking.

Jenna also comes across renowned psychic Serenity Jones, who rose to fame by using her gifts to find missing persons. However, an incident in Serenity’s not-so-distant past leaves her feeling broken and not up to the task of finding Jenna’s mother. However, this band of misfits knows that they need one another if for nothing else than to fill the voids that are within. So, they set out on the journey to find Jenna’s mother.

Disclaimer: I review and discuss the book a bit more thoroughly beyond this point. Book spoilers may happen! So, if you don’t want to be spoiled, skip down to the rating. 🙂

Jodi Picoult has been one of my favorite authors since 2008 when I found one of her books in my local library and checked it out so that I could take it with me to read during the downtimes in the hospital after I had my 3rd child.

One of the things I most love about her books is the honesty with which she writes. Each character truly has a different personality, a different set of values and she does a great job of setting the scene. Interestingly enough, even though Jenna is arguably the main character here, I feel like we’re really reading Alice’s story. We switch back and forth from present time / Jenna’s point of view to the past / Alice’s point of view as seen through her journals.

Also, elephants! I have always found elephants to be so fascinating and majestic but haven’t done much research on them past what most people probably know. I loved every fact about elephants that was included in this book! There is so much beauty in how an elephant lives its life – from the way they raise their young, interact with their herd and grieve their losses.

Aside from the elephants, the character that I was especially enamored with was the character of Serenity. Once a legitimate psychic, living the good life and using her gifts to aid in high-profile missing person cases, she loses it all one day. Yet, throughout Jenna’s search for her mother, we see that Serenity starts to get some of it back. Serenity is a good person who has simply lost her way.

It seemed like this book centered around finding what was lost. Virgil needed to get back to having faith in himself, Serenity needed to find her way back to her gifts and Jenna needed to find her mom.

In conclusion, just when it feels like we’re heading down a never-ending rabbit hole without a true resolution, in true Jodi Picoult fashion, we get our resolution in the most shocking yet satisfying way possible.

This book is not one I could easily put down. I thought about this story long after finishing it. Well done, Jodi. Well done.

My rating for Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult

Last year, I fell in love with the Kathleen Turner series by new indie author Tiffany Snow.

There are 3 main characters that you should get familiar with: Kathleen Turner, Blane Kirk, and Kade Dennon.

Kathleen “Kat” Turner is a young, bright-eyed legal assistant by day and waitress of a local sports bar by night. She is working an extra job so that she can save up and put herself through college. Her goal at the beginning of the series is to be a lawyer or another profession within the legal field. She likes animals and Britney Spears. She is intimidated by Blane Kirk and develops a crush on him.

Blane Kirk is one of the partners at the law firm where Kathleen works. He is tall, blonde and handsome with an athletic build. He is incredibly smart and has political ambitions that stretch beyond being a lawyer. He is one of the partners at the law firm where Kathleen works. He is a sharp dresser and always manages to look as if he just stepped off of the pages of GQ. He also has a bit of a reputation for being a womanizer. That is, until he meets Kathleen.

Kade Dennon is a mystery. He is tall, dark and handsome. He is a computer hacker and assassin. He is also Blane Kirk’s brother. While Kade lives on the dark side, he holds many secrets. Kade is also a silent partner at the law firm where Blane and Kat work. Kade is initially hired to kill Kathleen but has second thoughts once he sees how much his brother cares for her.

Aside from the 3 main characters, the Kathleen Turner series has many lovable and not-so-lovable characters to embrace. There are 5 books in the series in total.

Tiffany Snow does a wonderful job with the story and the characters. I found myself drawn into the lives of Kat, Blane and Kade. Each book left me breathless. The action, the suspense and the mystery kept me hanging on until the end. There is of course a love triangle… but you will have to read the books to find out which guy ends up with the girl. 😉

I give the Kathleen Turner series a Rating of 4 stars.

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